The International Writer's Magazine: Our Tenth Year - 2009 - Welcome

Destinations: Travel stories & guides

Opinion: Politics & Issues

Lifestyles: Ways of living

Destination Unknown John M Edwards The only problem with the New Years vacation was that the destination was right smack dab in the middle of a war zone! Poland - A Country of Doubts David Russell "Why are we here? Why, with a world of travel alternatives, had we picked Poland?" Al-Khazneh & the Grail Piotr Wesolowski The search continues for Christiany's holy relics Rainwater Ceremony Song David Calleja Today is a very important day in the history of Tropangs Dok village, for the concept of rain and its decision to grace its presence over the village will be honoured with a song. North to Alaska Sam Black Petoskey sits on Lake Michigan and if you haven’t been there I suggest you visit it someday Winter in Warsaw Marianne de Nazareth If you come from a warm country, Poland is hardly inviting in the depths of winter A Peak Experience Jane Cassie We’re standing with other skiers at the top of Sunburst Express. In spite of the chilly mountain breeze, both of my hands feel hot & clammy.This is clearly fear factor. The Death Road Biking the World’s Most Dangerous Route - J. Malcolm Garcia It’s not compulsory that you die today. Modern Caravanserai Rachael Pettus in Turkey For security, convenience, and economy, not to mention more than a touch of the colour and camaraderie, time and again we found that highway fuel stations were the best places to sleep.

The Change Express James Campion - The Obama Presidency Under The Microscope What Barack Obama walks into now is beyond anything Jack Kennedy had to experience So long Captain Shoo-In: Our Bedeviled Boy Howdy James Campion our 43rd president was far more adept at procuring the job than actually performing it Curioser and curioser! Annie Lalla The forces of curiosity and imagination pull us towards pleasure, expansion and integration with the rest of the world. Together they form a character profile in each of us. 0h-Nine: The Year of the Guilty James Campion + Readers Letters Two-thousand nine will be the year of The Guilty Entropy Jeannine Pitas I can’t stand it when someone yells at me Troubled Times Dan Crossen is looking for a Hero Heroes is a television show that that uses this fear of the unknown to entertain and to explore the human mind Career Choices in '09 Sam North A student asked me what jobs will go in this recession... The Meaning of Social Justice Punkerslut The whole is more valuable than the sum of all the parts. Social organization always drives back to this original concept Blind Faith Michael Levy How many people ruin their lives by blind faith in one way or another? Now and Then Neha Mehta How life changes. You think you've got it all figured out but you haven't.

Bad Trips: The Art of Travel Writing John Edwards The only good trips are bad trips, especially when even our guidebooks are “survival kits.” Welcome to the world of disaster and distress! My First Kiss Katie Tatela Curiosity. Why are boys so drooly? I never wanted a boy to kiss me my entire life. Castleton: A Brush with local history P Farrell-Vinay "You like painting don’t you? Come and look at this." Muay Lao, the forgotten art of kickboxing Antonio Graceffo “You can gain extra power on your kicks by throwing your kicking arm down, but you need to protect your face with a cross arm defense.” Adjarn Ngern, at the national kick boxing stadium in Vientiane, Lao. Glancing Back from Guayaquil Tyrel Nelson I vividly remembered walking to the baggage claim in Quito a year earlier, scared to death and wondering how I was ever going to get my feet under me, let alone teach English Transmetropolitan - A Spirit of our Times - Steven Stemp The New Year is a unique time, it allows us to gaze longingly back into the past, and to look hopefully to the future. To leave behind the mistakes of the old, and get ready to make entirely new ones The Thomas Hobbes School of Driving Like a Carioca Brynn Barineau My husband and I almost died the other day.  Again.  We were driving a car in Rio de Janeiro, so near death experiences are just one of the costs like gas and wiper fluid.

FICTION plus

FICTION Original Shorts

REVIEWS Film & Books

The Literal Day G David Schwartz September 7th, 1948 began typically and promised to be non-eventful. The fact that I was an eyewitness to the startling events I am about to relate is one of those accidents of history Uncle Pringle and the Bookmaker  Martin Green Bob’s story was familiar but had a singular twist.   He’d become a gambler In The Dark Piotr Wesolowski Groping and dragging his feet past cracked, edgeless steps, he followed a dark narrow staircase that led to the exit downstairs A Sensitive, Thin Man Lars Flatmo Reclining on my father's dirty living room couch made from raw white silk, I see through the drawn bamboo blinds my friend's short frame rapidly advancing across the front lawn towards the front door. Paulito's Last Christmas Daniela I. Norris He rang my doorbell on a warm summer evening, as the heat of the day evaporated from the cracks in the dusty pavement like an omen rising from the cracked lips of an oracle

Loving Titi Fisayo Talabi With one last look in Sade's face, he shook his head and someway, somehow, the words came out loud and clear. "I'm sorry, but I can't do this anymore. I still love Titi." Barbarism Begins at Home William Better So there's this guy and he's walking to class. His walk to class from his apartment is typically a half-mile, maybe more but probably less Juan the Silent - Episode One Hannah Langley Tonight, he would make it home. She would be waiting for him in the safe little cabin of logs and bricks More Reviews ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ - "The Feel Good Film of the Decade" Director: Danny Boyle Jo Green review The vibrant sound of fun-loving India blasted through the speakers and there was no escaping its force. The twists and turns of Asia’s largest slum open up before me as a handful of young rascals run from an inevitably fatter, slower official. This is Mumbai. In Bruges Directed by Martin McDonaugh Is there any more perfect Christmas movie than 'In Bruges' Dead Air by Iain Banks Callum Graham review Iain Banks is not necessarily the obvious choice to pick as a writer who embodies the spirit of our times. However, after reading his novel Dead Air I found him to be a prime candidate. Bozo and the Storyteller by Tom Glaister Sally Hayes Bozo and the Storyteller is the kind of book that is ageless.

Knife by R J Anderson Orchard Books; (Jan 2009); Sam North What an extraordinary tale ‘Knife’ is - this is a different take on Faeries at the bottom of the garden The Red Dress by Gaby Halberstam Sam North It’s 1944 – Jo’Burg, South Africa and Rifke Lubetkin (14), daughter of a Lithuanian Jewish refugee is growing up under the rigid control of her stern traditional mother. Twilight Dir by Catherine Hardwicke Starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson- Aby Davis review Boy meets Girl, Boy wants to drink girl’s blood, Boy dates girl despite wanting to drink her blood, evil vampire tries to kill Girl, Boy gets to drink some of the girl's blood in the end Mean Tide by Sam North, Reviewed by Charlie Dickinson The hero of Mean Tide is Oliver, a survivor of much at his tender age of twelve years, and a likable lad coming to terms with a mysterious adult world around him Donnie Darko Written and Directed by Richard Kelly Michael Webb review "Twenty-eight days, six hours, forty two minutes, twelve seconds, that is when the world will end" Angus, Thongs and full-frontal snogging by Louise Rennison Ruby Ceriden Harrison Georgia Nicholson could be the love child of Bridget Jones and Adrian mole, only funnier.

Borderlines Vol 2 A Literary Spark Fiction, travel & poetry From the School of Creative Arts University of Portsmouth - available from Lulu Press & Blackwells, Amazon on-line Want to submit something to us? go to submissions

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